I have a question to ask for all of those who have served our great nation. My younger brother has been going to POOLLEE meeting's to enlist in to the Marines. He did the first swear in to DEP to reserve a spot in the Corps, but he hasn't gone to his second swear in to sign the official Military contract.

My brother decided that instead of going to the Marines, he would go to a 4 year university first, and then he will rein-list in the arm forces again. However, he asked me if there would be any problem if he doesn't shows up for his final swear in. Now can anyone advise me if there would be any problems if he doesn't shows up for his second meeting.

Thanks ya!

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Luis A
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Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
--Winston Churchill

It's up to him but at this point he has no contractual obligations (he can walk out). I can tell you that recruiter will probably be calling the house every day though. He might even get a better contract or MOS out of it!

Yes it is true. Unless your brother actually signed a contract, he is fine to walk away from the dep program. The title "poolee" is just something to make your brother feel warm and special about being a future recruit. With that said, I would advise your brother to talk to his recruiter about it rather than just completely bailing on him. Especially if he wants to become a officer after he graduates.

As the others said he can back out. It would be most mature to let his recruiter or the recruiting commander know about it. Considering he is going to school and the military is overmanned I doubt the recruiters will care too much. Marines are meeting their recruiting goals easily and are over strength as well.

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Proud NRA Life Member As Of 2016"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism, but under the name of liberalism they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened." – Norman Thomas, American socialist

Thanks all for your advises, this will really help him decided whether to go now, or after university.

Tom, if you read my first post, my brother isn't backing out, he wants to finish University first before serving his 4 years term. I kinda understand him because he doesn't want to deal with the hassle of College work, and civilian life after being a military man.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Call_me_Tom

^^^this

Him backing out of a commitment says a lot about his character.

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Luis A
--
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
--Winston Churchill

It's up to him but at this point he has no contractual obligations (he can walk out). I can tell you that recruiter will probably be calling the house every day though. He might even get a better contract or MOS out of it!

From what I know there is two swear ins, one which is the reserving a spot for the marines, and the second one which is the official Military contract.

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Luis A
--
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
--Winston Churchill

I was trying to get a certain MOS and they were di**ing me around trying to get me the MOS they needed to fill up....I was in the process of signing up the second time and they wouldn't give me what I wanted. I ended up walking out after I finished the medical exam and told the recruiter about the problem I encountered. The recruiting commander came to my house after the recruiter drove me home and personally took me to MEPs and had them give me the MOS I respectfully requested.
No big deal about what your bro is doing, just tell him to do it honorably and respectfully so he doesn't burn bridges.

Youre brother sounds like a quitter who cant handle the military life anyways, better he doesnt end up in combat with us. He made a commitment knowing full well about college, now he screwed over his recruiter who was banking on his spot to fill a slot. Wow.

Youre brother sounds like a quitter who cant handle the military life anyways, better he doesnt end up in combat with us. He made a commitment knowing full well about college, now he screwed over his recruiter who was banking on his spot to fill a slot. Wow.

I don't know about him being a quitter, he is serious about serving. I guess his concern is not having a career to fall back when he finish his service term.

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Luis A
--
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
--Winston Churchill

I gotta say, I never understand these types of responses. I mean, I understand the recruiters work their tales off, but in the first sentence you act like you don't want him in the military and in the second it sounds like you want him to honor his "commitment". Which one is it? As for not able to handle the military life, he wasn't in the military for starters and had no obligation to go. Going to MEPS and getting approved and choosing your job is like applying for a job and getting an offer in response. There is no obligation to accept. If the guy wants to get his degree first that can only benefit the military. Throwing a tantrum sure doesn't benefit the military.

Quote:

Originally Posted by themailman

Youre brother sounds like a quitter who cant handle the military life anyways, better he doesnt end up in combat with us. He made a commitment knowing full well about college, now he screwed over his recruiter who was banking on his spot to fill a slot. Wow.

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Proud NRA Life Member As Of 2016"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism, but under the name of liberalism they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened." – Norman Thomas, American socialist

I gotta say, I never understand these types of responses. I mean, I understand the recruiters work their tales off, but in the first sentence you act like you don't want him in the military and in the second it sounds like you want him to honor his "commitment". Which one is it? As for not able to handle the military life, he wasn't in the military for starters and had no obligation to go. Going to MEPS and getting approved and choosing your job is like applying for a job and getting an offer in response. There is no obligation to accept. If the guy wants to get his degree first that can only benefit the military. Throwing a tantrum sure doesn't benefit the military.

I am bias, I am just trying to get the opinions from others, so I can better help him out make the right decision. To me I think it's a great idea for him to serve, but at the same time I know the importance of college dedication. This is why I came here asking for advises from people who have serve.

__________________
Luis A
--
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
--Winston Churchill

Proud NRA Life Member As Of 2016"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism, but under the name of liberalism they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened." – Norman Thomas, American socialist

I don't really think he's "screwing over" his recruiter unless he has a ship date, which I'm not sure if he does or not from your post. Besides, that's part of the game and he hasn't made that commitment until he's made it.

I say go for college. Nothing is stopping him from going to enlist if he doesn't like it, and if he wants to stay affiliated he may be able to join an ROTC program as well.

Just be aware that if he drops out of DEP he may be tainting himself and the Marine Corps may not want anything to do with him ever again. So if he's cool with never being a Marine then its not a big deal I suppose.

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"There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order."

-go ahead and go to college, finish your degree. The thing is when he tries out again he might not be even qualified. Things change every time from the requirements to your brothers situation at that time. A lot of things can happen between now and then (knock on wood), from DUI, drug use, legal issues to tattoos. I am not saying your brother is a trouble maker however, like what I said things can change and you can not predict that. I have seen it happen.

-yes he can not go and quit right now just give a reach around to his recruiter so he knows what to do when he gets yelled at. When a Marine on recruiting duty tells his SNCOIC that he's got one who wants to be a Marine, he goes by the Marines word that this person he is putting in the delayed entry program will eventually go to bootcamp. And that Marine actually takes the kids word that he wants to be a Marine. When you say something to a Marine he will trust you with that word. Breaking that trust is a big thing to any Marine.

- your brother can go to college and still be a Marine, reserves is the answer. And guess what, GI bill can pay for his tuition.

-if you ask for a certain job field (not MOS) in the Marines that is normal, however if you insist and you are not open minded on anything else go somewhere else. Believe me the first job field that gets taken is the infantry so the myth that they will give you infantry first is bull. Remember you will be Marine first then your job in the Marines.

-Marines right now is actually getting smaller. When I joined almost two decades ago there were 175K of us, last year there were 205K of us in which the congress mandated 202K. There are units that is slated to be activated and now it is not going to happened. So qualifications of joining are getting tighter, staying in is also getting harder. Only 36% of first time enlistees can stay for another 4 years.

-tell your brother make sure he is sure on what he wants because he might regret it. He is given a chance to be a Marine, there might not be another chance.

-oh yeah I was in recruiting field for 4 years. The usual stint is 3 years I volunteered for another year because I like to help people and change their life and be a Marine. Your brother is the reason I came back to the fleet, too much indecision, too much families not supporting their sons/daughters.

I gotta say, I never understand these types of responses. I mean, I understand the recruiters work their tales off, but in the first sentence you act like you don't want him in the military and in the second it sounds like you want him to honor his "commitment". Which one is it? As for not able to handle the military life, he wasn't in the military for starters and had no obligation to go. Going to MEPS and getting approved and choosing your job is like applying for a job and getting an offer in response. There is no obligation to accept. If the guy wants to get his degree first that can only benefit the military. Throwing a tantrum sure doesn't benefit the military.